Next Generation Communications - Mobile Marketing Archives

LTE Wireless Networks -- Time to Deploy

2012-05-07T18:20:17Z

By Mae Kowalke

Wireless operators and those who supply them infrastructure spend a lot of time focusing on the ‘data storm’ and what they are doing to stay one step ahead of it. The goal is to deliver more data, faster, with a better customer experience and greater economies of scale than in the past. Thanks to Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, these goals are now within reach.

“According to the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), 4G LTE is the fastest developing mobile system technology ever,” said Maniam Palanivelu, director of global 4G LTE solutions marketing at Alcatel-Lucent, in an Enriching Communications article, “LTE: The Best Thing to Happen to Wireless Networks.”

Palanivelu cited GSA figures indicating there are now 49 commercial LTE networks in 29 countries, and that is forecasted to reach 119 networks in 53 countries by the end of 2012. Two hundred and eight-five operators in 93 countries are actively investing in LTE. In fact, the evolution toward 4G LTE is occurring in developing and developed markets alike.

“Operators in developing markets are using LTE to cost effectively bring the mobile Internet to areas that previously had no Internet access at all…In developed markets, premium data services, such as mobile video, gaming and business apps, need LTE’s big bandwidth and low latency,” Palanivelu explained.

For operators, the need to deliver more data is the driving force behind LTE adoption. Customers got a taste for data with 3G, and changed their behavior in response. With average consumption per device growing 14-20 fold, it is clear users want more data. They also are indicating they want it sooner rather than later. The advertising push by service providers on who has the best and/or most extensive 4GLTE deployment demonstrates how critical expeditiously deploying not just 4G LTE but also Wi-Fi hotspots has become. Make no mistake about the fact that operators are committing infrastructure dollars behind their marketing claims.

The cellular carriers have it right about the imperatives for acting, Palanivelu says, “Now is the time for operators to seize this opportunity and profit from the growing data storm,” and LTE clearly is the technology they need to meet exploding demand.

The article makes other compelling points about LTE that highlight its attraction. Delivering more data isn’t the only advantage. LTE also provides a graceful migration path to move to a scalable all-IP architecture.

“It no longer makes business or financial sense to run multiple disparate networks,” Palanivelu states. He continues that, “To deliver the massive capacity required to serve the demand, today’s networks must change. Unlike 3G, LTE is all IP. It’s based on IPv6 which supports massive numbers of additional IP addresses and provides other improvements over IPv4. And it opens up access to new market segments like machine-to-machine.”

Although return on investment for LTE varies for each operator the path forward is clear. Deployment is now no longer a question of if, but when, where, why and how. The proof cases are impressive.

“The faster operators can bring LTE to market, the faster they can rise above the data storm to grow profitably and drive new revenues,” Palanivelu concluded. “Once they have the spectrum, there’s no reason to wait another day to invest in LTE and commercialize its vast potential.” He could have added with a 4G iPhone on the way, and tablet sales creating a tsunami of demand for quality user experiences on devices of all shapes and sizes, failure to deploy LTE and correctly architect not just the network but the business model could be hazardous to one’s competitive health.

A Holistic Approach is Necessary for Quality Customer Experiences

2012-04-09T17:45:37Z

By Mae Kowalke

For the hotly competitive world of mobile communications service providers, it’s no longer enough simply to provide fast, reliable connections for a variety of devices at competitive rates.

A recent article in the Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) e-zine Enriching Communications titled, “Taking Care of the Customer Experience,” co-authored by ALU’s Ben Geller, Senior Director of Marketing and Oliver Krahn, Customer Experience Transformation Growth Program Leader, on this subject is worth a read. They explain how, “Service providers are learning that they cannot differentiate with devices, services or pricing.” This is clearly a dramatic change from the past.

If the old practices are not the optimal path to success it leads to an interesting question, what really does differentiate a service provider anymore? As you probably have guessed from the title of this blog and the ALU article, the answer is providing an outstanding customer experience based on a holistic approach.

Geller and Krahn believe a large part of creating such experiences involved making things easy. This means easy in the customer’s eyes. They believe there are four main elements to viewing an experience through the eyes of a customer:

Services and devices are simple to start using right away
Network connectivity is always available when it’s needed
Devices and applications work the way they’re supposed to
Problems will be quickly identified and resolved

At the end of the day, service providers are both the creators of the customer experience as well as the enablers for others. This puts significant pressure on them to consistently provide a good quality of experience (QoE) regardless of the type of customer, or their location and to do so according to their expectations, needs and contractual relationships. What it means is the ability to manage these anywhere customers and to use analytics to gain insights into how to constantly improve the (QoE) and their value to the service provider as can be done with ALU's Motive Customer Experience Solutions portfolio. This includes careful attention to the speed and quality of response when problems occur which is a priority for retaining customer loyalty.

The good news is that providers have many assets that support an outstanding customer experience. It’s just a matter of appropriately leveraging those assets.

As Geller and Krahn note, “They own robust, secure and scalable networks that can support an array of services…They have access to innovative devices with open platforms that support application innovation. In short, they have all the components required to deliver a market-leading customer experience.” Indeed, these tools include such things as the ability to optimize bandwidth without sacrificing performance through such capabilities as mobile smartloading, and giving third-parties and internal developers the ability to use open APIs to create new revenue-generating applications and services

The last item about open APIs is crucial for success going forward, especially when combined with the insights gained from leveraging the information generated by customer services management tools. As the authors explain, creative partnerships are important and making sure everybody in the ecosystem is in a position to ensure the end customer has a compelling experience is key. “Service providers with robust infrastructures, networks, billing systems and help desks can essentially become service providers to application and content providers (ACPs),” Geller and Krahn point out. “Collaboration with ACPs can drive innovation in the application space, generate new revenue and influence the customer experience.”

They also explain that part of making things easy for customers means recognizing there is no one-size-fits-all approach or procedure for delivering an outstanding customer experience. New thinking, new strategies and new priorities, applied in customized ways, are critical. They emphasize that, “Every service provider plots its own path to transformation, often starting with a desire to address a specific pain point or opportunity…The right starting point and goals are essential.”

Some strategies service providers are using for managing the customer experience include:

Multi-channel customer care: to ensure the same quality of information and experience across all channels (phone, web, e-mail, IM, etc.).
Analytics: to measure how likely customers are to recommend service to others.
Maximizing network capacity yield: shifting usage patterns and rewarding customers for using the network during off-peak periods.

As with so many aspects of accommodating the dynamics of a changing world where the pace of everything is speeding up, and challenges can arise from almost anywhere at any time, Geller and Krahn present a powerful case as to why a holistic approach to the creation, substance and growth of quality customer experiences rest on service providers knocking down their operationally silos and embracing a holistic approach that is QoE-centric.

It is difficult to argue with their conclusion that, “To compete in the long term, executives must find ways to align departments and ensure that every person in the service provider organization is focused on delivering the best possible customer experience.” What this means is according to them is, “Extending consistency, universality and intuitiveness across every customer contact channel including call centers, web portals, IVRs and retail stores.”

Finally, it should be noted that this idea of a holistic approach must be viewed in the context of understanding that creating an end-user (the front end of the value-chain) quality customer experience can be considered the output of creating quality customer experiences for the back-end as well. Holism means making business processes and practices, and the people who use them more efficient and effective by empowering them with information from across the enterprise. This is not theory. It is best practice.

Alcatel-Lucent's Optism Solution Scoring Big Wins for Operators and Brands through Targeted, Permission-Based Mobile Advertising

2012-03-02T14:59:10Z

By Beecher Tuttle

The most successful advertisers and brands are always those that evolve alongside technology and adapt their campaigns based on recent consumer trends. Just as advertisers once changed their focus from print to digital platforms, marketing groups are now concentrating their efforts on the mobile market.

The inherent difficulty in mobile marketing is that it has almost become synonymous with spamming, where advertisers blanket mobile phone users with promotions, deals and company news that they simple don't care about. If only advertisers could partner with mobile operators and develop a base of consumers who are interested in connecting and interacting with their brand.

With the Optism Mobile Advertising Solution from Alcatel-Lucent, they can.

Optism provides an innovative business model that enables operators and their brand partners to engage with interested consumers through a permission-based system where users "opt-in" to receive ads and promotions. This way, advertisers can engage directly with users who love their products and services via SMS and MMS messages, thus creating value for brands, agencies, consumers and mobile network operators.

While somewhat new on the scene, Optism has already contributed to several wins, particularly in the developing world where mobile phone usage far exceeds PC ownership.

Egyptian operator Mobinil recently undertook an Optism campaign and garnered response rates as high as 54 percent. The company's "Mobile Ads" service was so successful it ended up winning the "Best Value-Added Services" at the Telecoms World event in Dubai last October.

"Since the introduction of our mobile advertising service, we have been able to further increase our relevance to end-users, brands and advertising agencies," said Ahmed Saber, Head of Mobile Advertising at Mobinil. "Leveraging the Optism solution, we are in a unique position to provide brands and advertising agencies access to — and a better understanding of — their potential customer base."

Ghana's Tigo has also found success with Optism, booking response rates of as high as 45 percent. In one campaign with Universal Motors, a total 30 percent of users responded to a Volkswagen Touareg ad, 90 percent of whom asked for more information on the vehicle.

Auto Parts Ltd, a distributor of Nissan automobiles in Ghana, mirrored the success of Universal Motors. "The mobile campaign we ran with Tigo Ads brought us to a wider audience than any other form of digital advertising in Ghana," said Haadi Bawah, marketing manager at Auto Parts. "The response rates to the Nissan Patrol campaign were extremely positive, and we gained insight into consumers’ needs that we can use to shape future campaigns."

In addition to its work with mobile operators and brands, Alcatel-Lucent has been spearheading a mobile advertising initiative dubbed the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), whose goal is to raise awareness around permission-based mobile marketing. The MMA is made up of a number of mobile service providers – including Vodafone Group, Telefonica, 02, Turkcell and Maxis – which are pushing this new initiative.

Opt-In Mobile Marketing Strategy: 6 Tips for Success

2012-02-27T15:14:50Z

By Susan J. Campbell

As consumers, we are constantly on the go with a mobile device of some kind in our hand providing directions, connection with a colleague or access to the data we need to close the big deal. The same device guides our social lives as we’ve come to rely on smart devices to manage our activities, content and connections. For brands, this provides the perfect opportunity to develop an Opt-In Mobile Marketing Strategy.

A recent blog by Mihai Vlad of Alcatel-Lucent’s Optism unit entitled, Thinking Human: Six Steps for Building a Successful Opt-In Mobile Marketing Strategy, highlights the opportunity that exists with the proliferation of the mobile phone as the must-have device. By developing an Opt-In Mobile Marketing Strategy, mobile operators, marketers and their brands can ask permission before engaging with consumers. In doing so, it provides unprecedented access to the consumer’s attention and the opportunity to build trust.

Simply implementing an Opt-In Mobile Marketing Strategy is not the guaranteed road to success, however. Companies must have a clear plan in place that gains attention, builds trust and drives engagement. Here, we’ll take a look at what Optism believes are six important steps for building the right Opt-In Mobile Marketing Strategy.

Be Transparent – if you aren’t clear on what you expect from the consumer and what you will provide if they opt-in, they will likely click right through to the next offering. Be upfront and honest and don’t forget to be clear that they can opt out at any time. Once you have their attention, focus on what they like – ask questions and do something with the answers.

Leave the Bribes to the Politicians – remember that an incentive is not the same thing as a bribe. It’s OK to offer value to opt-in, but that value needs to be delivered on a consistent basis. Provide information on great deals, offer coupons and notice of special events. If you offer a great prize or content entry for joining, your opt-out numbers will soar. Go for long-term value and search out those consumers that are truly interested in your service or product.

Leave the Jargon to the Lawyers – if I can’t understand your offer in the first few words, you’ve already wasted my time. Use clear language in your Opt-In Mobile Marketing Strategy by using the same approach you would when talking with friends. Avoid the use of marketing speak and clever turns of a phrase – mobile users want quick and to the point or they’re on to the next thing.

K.I.S.S. – you know you’re supposed to keep it simple stupid, but you forgot in the quest for impressing your audience. You don’t need to collect everything you need in one exchange – consumers will push back if you try. Think of your Opt-In Mobile Marketing Strategy like dating – you can’t propose marriage on the first date if you hope for date number two.

Are you Ready for This – even with the best intentions integrated into your strategy, consumers will still surprise you by acting outside of your expectations. Be ready for anything, even if your focus groups portray a particular picture. The ability to make changes quickly when things don’t go according to plan will set you apart from your competitors and put you in a better place strategically for gaining insight and increasing your ROI.

Keep it Local – remember that permission-based mobile marketing is about reaching out to an individual and engaging at a personal level. No universal rules exist that apply to all people in all cultures all the time. Learn local customs, preferences and habits if you hope to make a direct connection with that consumer.

You truly only have a limited amount of time to successfully engage the consumer in your Opt-In Mobile Marketing Strategy, so you have to get it right the first time. What the six tips show is that being honest, open, straightforward and consistent is the way to engage customers. In the online world the phrase, “you do not get a second chance to make a first impression,” is critical to understand when designing and launching a new service. That said, following the six tips should put you well on your way to success.

New Revenue Opportunities Possible with the New Conversation Experience

2012-01-03T17:15:24Z

By Susan Campbell

Service provider (SP) revenues are taking significant revenue hits from application and content providers (ACPs) as the disaggregation of content from physical access shifts value generation opportunities toward third parties. At the same time SPs are also attempting to ward off “free” offerings, such as people using things like Skype for making phone calls who are willing to put up with inferior quality, by attracting people to superior services they will pay a premium for. The challenge, which every day gains more urgency, is how to react to both trends.

The objective is to be relevant and central in evolving ecosystems and thereby be in a position to maximize new opportunities while minimizing risks. The vehicle for turning things around is embodied in the desirability of creating a new conversation experience with customers based on a holistic strategic approach.

A recent Alcatel-Lucent article, The Value of the New Conversation Experience highlighted the need for service providers to increase the average revenue per user and reduce churn, two of the major revenue corrosive issues. It focused on the reality that to accomplish these goals, SPs must quickly bring to market enhanced service bundles and also rapidly introduce innovative service offerings with compelling and differentiated perceivable value as critical to combating free services.

According to research and business models provided by Alcatel-Lucent (ALU), establishing a new conversation experience offers SPs the means to create sustained business value. It cautions that the value has to be communicated correctly to users and made attractive to all members of evolving ecosystems as well.

ALU’ research reveals that service providers willing to leverage things like IMS technology can capture and keep the attention of their customers through by enabling a more intimate relationship that is experienced as being personal, seamless, secure and social. However, a rich communication suite is not enough.

The research found that users want something with the attributes of ALU’s new conversation experience if they are to remain loyal which in turn can provide service providers with a broad and long term business value.

To truly deliver this new conversation experience, it’s critical that service providers understand what is required. For instance, the article says that customers want such things as:

Delivery of enriched voice to enable VoIP through a presence- and chat-ready enhanced network address book
One number service for all calling
HD quality IP-based video calling and sharing services through the availability of an enhanced network address book
Intuitive messaging for a converged messaging
Single inbox service between SMS, IM, MMS, video mail and voice mail

The key to all of the above and many more is that each of these services can deliver only short-term business value when delivered alone. Worse, they can be easily commoditized. When the services are bundled together, however, they are the foundation for the delivery of the new conversation experience.

To position service providers to generate new and sustainable revenue streams, ALU contends that the focus needs to be on creating integrated communications solutions, combining services and delivering enhanced bundles. This may include a Multimedia Pack to extend enriched voice, intuitive messaging and live video and access to enhanced bundles to deliver on the new conversation experience.

The key for the service provider is to develop the right offering and the right strategy for taking the offering to market. They must then employ sophisticated business modeling techniques so they can react quickly to maximize opportunity and minimize risks in a rapidly changing world.

ALU contends that the new conversation experience is the best way for service providers to create long-term differentiated and sustainable value and that now is the time to start the conversation before as they say, “the window of opportunity is closes.”

As with so many aspects of modern life, the Internet has profoundly changed the nature of relationships between buyers and sellers. Choice and not dictates are the rule and not the exception, and the customers because of access to information and alternatives now have historically unprecedented leverage. They are willing to talk but under new terms and conditions which are going to require new approaches to engagement both short and long term. It is as stated, a new conversation experience. It certainly appears to be a conversation worth getting started.

Permission-Based Mobile Marketing Strategies Hold Value for Advertisers, Operators and Consumers

2012-01-03T00:05:25Z

By Beecher Tuttle

The influx of smartphones, tablets and next-generation networks has created a number of new ways for brands and marketing agencies to reach consumers. Unfortunately, many of today's mobile marketing techniques fail to engage consumers, who often find the advertisements to be bothersome, intrusive and unrelated to their interests.

One innovative and effective way to bridge this gap is a strategy called permission-based mobile marketing, a targeted advertising technique that changes the marketing paradigm by creating a dialogue with consumers, rather than an invasive, one-sided monologue.

The basic premise of permission-based mobile marketing is rather simple: users opt-in and give their consent for brands to send them targeted, preference-based marketing materials for products and services that they are interested in. If executed properly, a permission-based mobile marketing strategy can create value for brands, agencies, consumers and mobile network operators.

A recent white paper, Building Permission Based Mobile Marketing, authored by the Mobile Marketing Association and its Task Force members, including Alcatel-Lucent, Vodafone and other major players in the telecom space, details permission-based mobile marketing, how it works and the benefits that it can bring to all parties involved.

The strength of the marketing technique relies on the fact that mobile devices are now near-ubiquitous. In addition, the mobile platform is currently made up of multiple, flexible channels including messaging, browsing, apps and proximity channels. Needless to say, the mobile platform offers advertisers an expansive field to play with.

Taking advantage of mobile channels is easier said than done, however, because consumers get turned off when they receive marketing materials from brands that they don't care about. This is where permission-based mobile marketing can succeed.

Targeted advertising dramatically increases response rates and creates an engaged audience, says MMA, and also gives consumers reason to share their demographic information and other data that can help encourage commerce.

Consumers have plenty of reasons to opt-in to marketing campaigns, including a more personalized and deeper connection to the brands that they love, a two-way dialogue in the format of their choosing and, most importantly, access to special deals, alerts and discounts.

In fact, a recent Alcatel-Lucent survey found that 63 percent of mobile youth indicated that they would be more willing to purchase products or services from preferred brands using a permission-based mobile marketing service. More than three-quarters of respondents said that it's important for mobile ads to be based on their interests, while more than 80 percent said it's "very/extremely" important for brands to ask permission before sending them advertisements.

In addition to benefiting consumers, permission-based mobile marketing provides a number of opportunities for brands and agencies, the most obvious of which is a significant reduction in advertising spending that is wasted on consumers who have no interest in their products and services. The strategy also increases consumer engagement and real-time interaction, which, in turn, boosts ROI numbers.

Additional benefits include quick response rates – with 90 percent of SMS text messages read within three minutes of receipt – and the ability to create long-term relationships.

Finally, permission-based mobile marketing can be a major aid to network service providers, who can leverage the strategy to improve customer satisfaction numbers and open up new revenue streams by partnering with advertisers and content creators.

MMA Task Force member Alcatel-Lucent is one of the leading supporters of permission-based mobile marketing, and has designed its Optimism solution to help provide the aforementioned benefits to all parties in the commerce value chain. The Optimism Mobile Advertising Solution, which helps advertisers and operators connect with a 100 percent opted-in audience, has proven to be extremely effective in multiple global campaigns.

As an example, Egyptian mobile network operator Mobinil has seen their response rates on mobile ad services climb to as high as 54 percent on the back of the Optimism solution.

"Since the introduction of our mobile advertising service, we have been able to further increase our relevance to end-users, brands and advertising agencies. Leveraging the Optism solution, we are in a unique position to provide brands and advertising agencies access to — and a better understanding of — their potential customer base," Ahmed Saber, Head of Mobile Advertising at Mobinil, noted in a recent case study.

Alcatel-Lucent will continue to work with the MMA to push permission-based marketing to the next level and enable advertisers and operators to make the most efficient use of their budgets.

“We’re very excited that the MMA recognizes the importance of permission-based marketing and that Alcatel-Lucent has the opportunity to help shape the efforts of the taskforce as we evangelize and educate the industry on best practices,” said Lisa Ciangiulli, Director of Marketing, Alcatel-Lucent Mobile Commerce Solutions.

Check out the complete white paper to read Alcatel-Lucent's four-stage process for launching a permission-based mobile marketing campaign and some recent success stories.